International Master Gardener Conference

The International Master Gardener Conference (IMGC) is happening this year in Portland, Oregon July 10-14. To be at a conference with over 1,000 Master Gardeners is an experience not to be missed. I’m forwarding an e-mail with lots of information but if you don’t want to read all that click on this link 2017 International Master Gardener Conference. The conference will feature 5 days of talks, tours, movies and more. So if you summer travels include a visit to the northwest, think about signing up. Early registration ends Jan. 13. I’ll be there!

Hattie

The deadline for the early registration discount ($50) for the 2017 IMGC is nearing.  The last day for early registration is January 13th.

More than 45 classes will be given in concurrent sessions, according to Amy Jo Detweiler, a horticulturist for Extension and coordinator of the speakers. Classes embrace a broad range of topics, including garden design, edibles, bee health, disease and pest management, pruning, soils and history.
Three keynote speakers are on the agenda – Dan Hinkley, plant explorer and former owner of Heronswood Nursery; Renee Shepherd, founder and owner of Renee’s Garden; and John Marzluff, professor of environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington.
Other well-known presenters are Lee Reich, horticulturist and author; Sean Hogan, owner of Cistus Nursery in Sauvie Island; Lucy Hardiman, Portland garden designer and author; Ramesh Sagili, assistant professor and bee expert at OSU; and Thomas Rainer, landscape architect, teacher and author.
A garden-themed movie festival, trade show and 16 full- or half-day tours are also planned.

A few notes about the conference:

• hotel rooms at our discount hotel (The Inn at the Convention Center) have already filled.  Rooms at our two other hotels (DoubleTree Portland and Crowne Plaza) are filling quick.  Please make your hotel reservation soon, to take advantage of these great summer rates for Portland. (Hotel information at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/lodging/).http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/lodging/).
• two tours (Columbia Gorge and 3 Iconic Gardens) have already filled.  One tour that is being a bit overlooked include 'Pines to Pruners' ($63 per person):  Iseli's Nursery (http://www.iselinursery.com/)http://www.iselinursery.com/ is renowned for their conifer displays, and Red Pig Tools (http://www.redpigtools.com/)http://www.redpigtools.com/http://www.redpigtools.com/ is a place of pure artistry (I had the Blacksmith, Bob Denman, sign my tools . . . I love them so much.  Another is 'History and Harvest to Table' ($173 per person): a must see for lovers of the farm to table movement.  Meriwether's restaurant and Skyline Farms (https://www.meriwethersnw.com/)https://www.meriwethersnw.com/ is the Pacific Northwest's version of Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  It is one of a very select group of restaurants that is truly farm to table.  This tour includes lunch at this world-renowned restaurant, a tour of Skyline Farms, and a visit to the owners' personal garden.
• several classes are performing extremely well (e.g. Lee Reich's 'Weedless Garden', Lucy Hardiman's 'Full Frontal Gardens', Harry Olsen's 'Better Vertical Gardening', among others).  A few gems that seem to be overlooked by many include Amy Garrett's 'Dry Farming' and Alice Doyle's 'Gardening with Grafted Vegetables'.  Amy is working with farmers in the Pacific Northwest to perfect the art of growing vegetables ***without any irrigation***.  After two summers of work, farmers are reporting great success growing a variety of crops as dry farmers.  The tricks seem to be in understanding your soil type, controlling weeds, and getting your crops in at the right time of the year.  Her work is truly revolutionary, and has great promise for home gardeners.  Read more about Amy and her class at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/confirmed-speakers/amy-garrett/http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/confirmed-speakers/amy-garrett/ .  Alice Doyle is also a pioneer, being the first grower in the US to offer grafted vegetables to home gardeners.  Read more about Alice and her class at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/confirmed-speakers/alice-doyle/http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/confirmed-speakers/alice-doyle/ .
• our second gardening film festival movie is now 'Microcosmos' (hidden world of insects).  Warner Brothers pulled public showing rights for 'Little Shop of Horrors', so we had to choose a replacement film.  Learn more about our film festival at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/film-festival/http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/film-festival/ .

We hope that you'll join us at the 2017 IMGC.  And, if you can't join us, we hope that you'll help us spread the word.  Come join the 531 folks who have registered already, to have a fun and educational week in beautiful Portland, Oregon.  We're so excited to host you.

Gail Langellotto

Associate Professor, Horticulture
Statewide Coordinator, Extension Master Gardener Program
4017 ALS Building, Corvallis OR 97331

Oregon State University
Tel.: 541-737-5175, Fax: 541-737-3479
gail.langellotto@oregonstate.edu

Join us at the 2017 International Master Gardener Conference, July 10-14, 2017 in Portland, OR.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Extension Master Gardener Coordinators" group.
To post to this group, send email to emgcoordinators@extension.org.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/a/extension.org/group/emgcoordinators/.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/extension.org/d/msgid/emgcoordinators/38B6BAC20AFC274D9D31F96D2EA70F8AD0FC0DE0%40EX1.oregonstate.edu.